Simvastatin-Nicotinamide Co-Crystals: Formation, Pharmaceutical Characterization and in vivo Profile

Optimizing Drug Development: Harnessing the Sustainability of Pharmaceutical Cocrystals

Environmental impacts of the industrial revolution necessitate adoption of sustainable practices in all areas of development. The pharmaceutical industry faces increasing pressure to minimize its ecological footprint due to its significant contribution to environmental pollution. Over the past two decades, pharmaceutical cocrystals have received immense popularity due to their ability to optimize the critical attributes of active pharmaceutical ingredients and presented an avenue to bring improved drug products to the market. This review explores the potential of pharmaceutical cocrystals as an ecofriendly alternative to traditional solid forms, offering a sustainable approach to drug development. From reducing the number of required doses to improving the stability of actives, from eliminating synthetic operations to using pharmaceutically approved chemicals, from the use of continuous and solvent-free manufacturing methods to leveraging published data on the safety and toxicology, the cocrystallization approach contributes to sustainability of drug development. The latest trends suggest a promising role of pharmaceutical cocrystals in bringing novel and improved medicines to the market, which has been further fuelled by the recent guidance from the major regulatory agencies.

Co-rotating twin screw process for continuous manufacturing of solid crystal suspension: A promising strategy to enhance the solubility, permeation and oral bioavailability of Carvedilol

Background

In the current work, co-rotating twin-screw processor (TSP) was utilized to formulate solid crystal suspension (SCS) of carvedilol (CAR) for enhancing its solubility, dissolution rate, permeation and bioavailability using mannitol as a hydrophilic carrier.

Methods

In-silico molecular dynamics (MD) studies were done to simulate the interaction of CAR with mannitol at different kneading zone temperatures (KZT). Based on these studies, the optimal CAR: mannitol ratios and the kneading zone temperatures for CAR solubility enhancement were assessed. The CAR-SCS was optimized utilizing Design-of-Experiments (DoE) methodology using the Box-Behnken design. Saturation solubility studies and in vitro dissolution studies were performed for all the formulations. Physicochemical characterization was performed using differential scanning calorimetry , Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction studies, and Raman spectroscopy analysis. Ex vivo permeation studies and in vivo pharmacokinetic studies for the CAR-SCS were performed. Stability studies were performed for the DoE-optimized CAR-SCS at accelerated stability conditions at 40 ºC/ 75% RH for three months.

Results

Experimentally, the formulation with CAR: mannitol ratio of 20:80, prepared using a KZT of 120 ºC at 100 rpm screw speed showed the highest solubility enhancement accounting for 50-fold compared to the plain CAR. Physicochemical characterization confirmed the crystalline state of DoE-optimized CAR-SCS. In-vitro dissolution studies indicated a 6.03-fold and 3.40-fold enhancement in the dissolution rate of optimized CAR-SCS in pH 1.2 HCl solution and phosphate buffer pH 6.8, respectively, as compared to the pure CAR. The enhanced efficacy of the optimized CAR-SCS was indicated in the ex vivo and in vivo pharmacokinetic studies wherein the apparent permeability was enhanced 1.84-fold and bioavailability enhanced 1.50-folds compared to the plain CAR. The stability studies showed good stability concerning the drug content.

Conclusions

TSP technology could be utilized to enhance the solubility, bioavailability and permeation of poor soluble CAR by preparing the SCS.

Drug-drug co-amorphous systems: An emerging formulation strategy for poorly water-soluble drugs

Overcoming the poor water solubility of small-molecule drugs is a major challenge in the development of clinical pharmaceuticals. Amorphization of crystalline drugs is a highly effective strategy to improve their aqueous solubility. However, amorphous drugs are thermodynamically unstable and likely to crystallize during manufacturing and storage. Recently, drug-drug co-amorphous systems have emerged as a novel strategy to not only enable enhanced dissolution and physical stability of the individual drugs within the system but also to provide a strategy for combination therapy of the same or different clinical indications. This review serves to highlight advances in the methods used to manufacture and characterize drug-drug co-amorphous systems, summarize drug-drug co-amorphous applications reported in recent decades, and provide an outlook on future possibilities and perspectives.

Collagen-Based Dissolving Microneedles with Flexible Pedestals: A Transdermal Delivery System for Both Anti-Aging and Skin Diseases

Biocompatible polymer microneedles (MNs) are emerging as a promising platform for transdermal drug delivery, especially for facial treatments. Therefore, an MN patch in this study uses hydrolyzed collagen (HC) contained in skin cells as the main raw material and adopts a two-step cast method to develop a rapidly dissolving microneedle (DMN) to deliver collagen in a simple and minimally invasive way, allowing the release of the encapsulated drug in the skin. By optimizing the formulation and proportion of HC and auxiliary support materials, the mechanical strength required to pierce the skin is obtained, while the soft pedestal allows for flexibility in application. The DMNs can dissolve completely in the skin within 15 min and release within ≈ 8 h, and do not cause toxicity or irritation when being applied. In contrast to the ineffectiveness of oral and external application, and the high risk of dermal injection, drug-loaded DMNs overcome the drawbacks of traditional methods with direct penetration and minimally invasive manner, enabling efficient and safe treatment. The successful preparation and research of HC DMNs have innovative and practical significance in this field, and it is expected to become a simple, effective, and popular transdermal drug delivery platform for cosmetics.

A co-crystal berberine-ibuprofen improves obesity by inhibiting the protein kinases TBK1 and IKKɛ

Berberine (BBR) exerts specific therapeutic effects on various diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and other inflammation-associated diseases. However, the low oral bioavailability (below 1%) of berberine due to its poor solubility and membrane permeability limits its clinical use. In this paper, we have prepared a 1:1 co-crystal berberine-ibuprofen (BJ) using drug salt metathesis and co-crystal technology. Pharmacokinetic studies demonstrate a 3-fold increase in vivo bioavailability of BJ compared to that of BBR, and BJ is more effective in treating obesity and its related metabolism in vitro and in vivo. We also find that BJ promotes mitochondrial biogenesis by inhibiting TBK1 and inducing AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) phosphorylation, and BJ increases adipocyte sensitivity to catecholamine by inhibiting IKKε. Together, our findings support that co-crystal BJ is likely to be an effective agent for treating obesity and its related metabolic diseases targeting TBK1 and IKKε.